This summer, students in the School of Social Sciences’ Master of Social Policy Evaluation (MSPE) program have the distinct opportunity to engage in hands-on learning with a community organization. Building upon the longstanding research-practice partnership between United Way of Greater Houston and the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, students will complete a capstone project that entails analyzing and evaluating data for a local nonprofit organization.
A primary aim of the United Way of Greater Houston is to support nonprofits with their data and evaluation capacities through an effort called Coffee and Quality.
“We want nonprofits to be able to collect data and to use that data to improve the work that they're doing, whatever that might look like based on their mission,” said Jessica Davison, senior director of mission and strategy for United Way of Greater Houston. “We really meet organizations where they are.”
One component of Coffee and Quality is the case study, which features a nonprofit that may have existing quality data practices but would like to know how to best use the information gathered. The Kinder Institute provides the expertise needed to review, analyze, and make sense of the data for the case study organization, addressing their questions, what they are hoping to better understand about their work, and how they can improve their practices. Not only does the partnership benefit the case study organization, but the information is then shared with the larger local nonprofit sector to impart lessons learned and to expand understanding of best practices.
The summer 2025 MSPE capstone will be a case study of College Community Career (CCC), a nonprofit organization that helps young adults get into college, focusing on low-income, first-generation college and career readiness. The students will work with the organization over four months, evaluating their data, engaging in conversations, answering questions, and having monthly check-ins.
“This really is a time to practice and to experience what a partnership with a community organization is like,” said Davison. “I think the capstone case study will give MSPE students a glimpse into how data and evaluation work with a nonprofit and how it can help to fulfill their mission. This provides a new perspective to consider when handling client data to better understand its impact.”
The capstone case study experience will begin with a two-hour kickoff where CCC will share about their work, their mission, and the program area in focus. The students will learn about CCC’s current data practices and begin to brainstorm ideas for potential research questions and map out the course of the case study.
“The United Way of Greater Houston is a valued partner of the Kinder Institute,” said Daniel Potter, director of the Houston Population Research Center at the Kinder Institute and MSPE faculty member. “We are excited to expand this partnership to Rice’s MSPE program, which will enrich our students through applied data and evaluation work outside the classroom and provide support for a local community organization that is impacting the lives of many with their mission-driven work.”
Rice University’s Master of Social Policy Evaluation (MSPE) offers a unique opportunity to learn and apply frontier methods of social policy impact analysis. Students pursue a one-year, full-time, 30-credit hour program that provides the quantitative skills and hands-on application for real-world policy evaluations conducted at the Texas Policy Lab and other research centers at Rice. Students have the opportunity to explore specific policy areas in depth, currently criminal and juvenile justice, public health, early childhood development and education, and labor markets. MSPE graduates will have acquired the skills necessary to address the challenges faced by entities in the development, implementation, and evaluation of social policies.